My BFF considered having her pets be part of her wedding and ultimately decided against it. She is a huge animal lover and her dog has been with her for so many years now she thought about how he could be a part of the day. She ended up just taking pictures with him before the wedding, they’re so cute! I don’t have any to post since they’re not my photos but they’re wonderful!I think they gave him a little bow tie to wear, he’s a Welsh corgi. So cute!

She also thought about including their horses in the wedding some how but in the end with her venue it would not have worked out to include any animals.

I would only consider it if you’re having a very casual/outdoorsy wedding.

@amandasouthcarolina: We will, but we will also have a handler for him. Neither of us will be responsible for dealing with him, i.e. feeding him, taking him outside, controling him, etc. for the wedding. That I would never agree to.

Our dog is going to be the Dog of Honor. Our wedding is in our backyard and will be fenced, so I’m not too worried about her doing anything crazy. Our officiant explicitly told us to not make her the ringbearer because she’s seen lots of dogs play keep-away with the rings during a ceremony. One of the groomsmen will likely have her on a leash, and we’ll get her a cute collar or tux 🙂

I think it’s a cute idea but please be certain to keep the dogs far away from guests unless you know for a fact that they aren’t allergic. I’m severely allergic to certain breeds and can have my allergies set off very easily. I don’t typically carry my allergy medicine or inhaler unless I expect to come across a dog (or cat) so I would be pretty miserable all night if my allergies were triggered.

Ceremony (MIL was holding him, and he popped up at just the right time).

First dance (we found the slow sway hugging to be really awkward, so DH suggested that I pick up our dog):

Reception:

Photo sessions:

DH didn’t like the idea of our dog under our table during the reception, but it worked just fine (our pup was a big fan of the chicken I fed him :). And for after dinner, he’s small and cuddley so someone was always happy to keep tabs on him.

We could have, but our venue was outdoor and open to the parking lot, so it was an easy decision for us not to. I was glad I wouldn’t have to worry about them, although it was tough to find someone to watch them, since our family and neighbors were invited to the wedding! (we ended up asking BIL’s friend to housesit for us that night).

My sister had a backyard wedding at our parents’ house though, and their mastiff wore a bow tie and it was SO CUTE. He just hung out and followed my sister around. I think it definitely added something to their wedding 🙂

We had our two siberian huskies at our wedding. If you know your dog can handle the excitement and your guests can handle the dog, then go for it. We LOVED having our babies at the ceremony and our guests (many of whom didn’t know the pups would be there) were thrilled.

Since we had a small, outdoor wedding (less than 50 guests), and we didn’t want any of our guests to be burdened with handling our two big, rambunctious fur-kids, we hired a handler (i.e. local dog sitter) to manage them. She picked them up at our house, drove them to the ceremony site (a 15 minute drive), stayed nearby and was available to take care of them as needed. After the ceremony and pictures, she took them back to our house. It worked out perfectly.

Note: our dogs are very friendly and outgoing; they love people and attention and are great around kids and large groups. Here are a few pics…